Re: Netnews: The Origin Story

Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:

D <nospam@example.net> wrote:

On Thu, 7 Nov 2024, Sn!pe wrote:

I think D is more concerned about anonymity than other considerations,
then about 'eavesdropping'.  I'm sure he'll tell us RSN.

 
This is the correct interpretation. I our times of polarization and
net-hating, having a modicum of anonymity and privacy is very nice.

 
That's not about Usenet being unencrypted then. Your identity is
equally compromised whether you post here via NNTP or NNTPS. But
you might still not be individually identifiable if you take other
measures to protect it.

Anonymity on Usenet is facilitated (in today's world) by the fact that
most every poster is using a "commercial" service [1] that does not
enforce strict naming requirements on the From: line contents.  By
having the freedom to post as "From: D <nospam@example.net>" in the
From: line, D has more anonymity than they would have had back in the
mid 90's when their Usenet access would likely have been via $job or
college, and both $job and college would most likely have enforced use
of a "real name and real email address" in the From: line.



[1] I'm lumping eternal september in here as "commercial" -- I'm not
using "paid" as "commercial", instead the distinction is "signed up
for/aquired by the user" vs.  "supplied by $job or college to the
user".